After 18 months of campaigning and seven months of a presidency, it appears that if one wants to avoid criticism from President Donald Trump, the best bet is an association with white supremacists or to be the president of Russia.

In Charlottesville, Va., last weekend, torch carrying neo-Nazis marched at the University of Virginia shouting pro-Nazi slogans. They combined with members of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a public park.

In the mayhem that followed between those groups and counterprotesters, one of the white supremacists, James Alex Fields Jr., mowed down protesters with his car, injuring 19 and killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

President Trump had a golden opportunity to unite the country by condemning, specifically, white supremacists and neo-Nazis. On Saturday, he failed to do so.

Trump supporters often say one of the reasons they're enamored with him is he "tells it like is," "speaks his mind," and "fights back." That is accurate in a sense. From the moment he officially kicked off his campaign for president, Trump has reveled in criticizing and mocking those he doesn't like or agree with and almost never backs down from a war of words.

Early in his campaign, for example, Trump said Sen. John McCain wasn't a war hero because he was a POW. ("I like people who weren't captured.") He created juvenile nicknames for his political opponents, such as "Little Marco," "Lyin' Ted," "Low-Energy Jeb," and "Crooked Hillary." He mocked a disabled reporter.

Trump referred to the press as the "enemy" of the American people. He called out members of the Republican House Freedom Caucus for opposing an early version of an Obamacare repeal bill. He slammed Jeff Sessions, one of his earliest and highest-profile supporters and now his attorney general, as "weak."

When Merck pharmaceuticals CEO Kenneth Frasier stepped down from the American Manufacturing Council on Monday, outraged by Trump's muted response to the Charlottesville protests, it took Trump only 57 minutes to blast Fraser on Twitter.

Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council,he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!

This fervor stands in sharp contrast to his treatment of a foreign adversary. Indeed, Trump seems rendered impotent when it comes to Russia.

During the GOP primary, Trump refused to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin in the way his GOP opponents did because of "very nice" things the Russian president said about him. He demurs when it comes to allegations of Russian meddling in the presidential election -- despite assessments that it did by the FBI, the CIA and the NSA.

When Congress passed sanctions against Russia in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, Trump blasted the U.S. Congress. When Putin kicked 750 U.S. diplomats out of Russia, Trump made light of it, practically thanking Putin for helping him save on payroll costs.

This is bold? This is fearless?

What if China or Mexico ousted U.S. diplomats? Can you imagine a cowed Trump joking about the affront?

For all of his bluster and attacks on people he believes are being unfair to him, Trump continues to give white supremacists and Putin free passes.

The question is, "Why?"

At some point, those closest to him will have to force him to answer this question -- not only for their conscience but for their country.